Looking Up At The Space Needle
by Kathy White
Title
Looking Up At The Space Needle
Artist
Kathy White
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
I shot this photograph of the The Space Needle in Seattle, Washington from below because I just wanted something different and unusual. We ate in the SkyHigh restaurant at the top of the Needle and really enjoyed the experience. The view was awesome and the food delicious. The room slowly rotated while we ate, giving us a view from every angle.
Looking on the Space Needle's official website are numerous structural facts, funny tidbits, and all sorts of info. Here are just a few of the interesting facts I copied from their site to peak your interest...
Top of the Space Needle – Aircraft Warning Beacon: 605 feet
Observation Deck: 520 feet
Revolving SkyCity Restaurant: 500 feet
SkyLine Banquet Facility: 100 feet
Pavilion entrance and Space Base Retail Shop: ground level
Bottom of foundation: 30 feet below ground
The Space Needle was built on a 120′ x 120′ lot formerly owned by the city of Seattle, which was sold to investors for $75,000 in 1961, just one year before the opening of the World’s Fair.
There are 848 steps from the bottom of the basement to the top of the Observation Deck.
The Space Needle sways approximately 1 inch for every 10 mph of wind. It was built to withstand a wind velocity of 200 miles per hour, doubling the 1962 building code requirements. When winds around the Needle reach high speeds, 35 mph or higher, the elevators are designed to reduce their traveling speed to 5 mph for safety reasons. During the 1993 Inaugural Day storm, wind gusts reached 90 mph and the top house was closed for an hour and a half.
On a hot day the Space Needle expands about one inch.
There are 25 lightning rods (24 actual rods plus the tower) on the roof of the Needle to withstand lightning strikes.
The Space Needle had the second revolving restaurant in the world. The first one was in the Ala Moana shopping mall in Hawaii (now closed). There are now hundreds of turntables throughout the world.
The entire Space Needle saucer does not rotate, only a 14-foot ring next to the windows rotates on the SkyCity restaurant level.
The restaurant turntable revolves on a track and wheel system that weighs roughly 125 tons, borrowed from railroad technology. All it takes to make the turntable revolve is a 1˝ horsepower motor (originally it was a 1 hp motor).
Uploaded
October 24th, 2012
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